A secretary of the General Conference who was charged with the responsibility of collecting and distributing statistics for the world field. This individual was elected at the General Conference session and was responsible to the General Conference Committee. The quarterly “Summary of Progress” reports for North America are compiled, printed, and distributed to administrators and others in the North American Division. Quarterly secretary’s reports of the overseas divisions are compiled quarterly for reference but are not published. The Annual Statistical Report is a compilation of the statistics from all divisions and attached unions and is printed as soon as all division statistical reports are received. It is usually distributed to world leaders about midyear. Traditionally, the General Conference statistical secretary was charged with compiling and editing the Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook annually. This contains a detailed listing of all Seventh-day Adventist organizations, institutions, and personnel.
The first statistical secretary was H. E Rogers. He was listed as a “clerk” from 1901 until he was appointed as statistical secretary by action of the General Conference Committee on June 5, 1905. He served until 1941. He left a wealth of statistical and archival material. The statistical secretary was combined with auditing in 1962. At the 1966 General Conference session a statistical secretary was appointed who was again directly responsible to the General Conference Committee. At the 1975 General Conference session it was voted to combine statistics with archives, and the office formerly designated as statistical secretary became director of archives and statistics.
Statistical Clerk: H. E. Rogers, 1901–1905.
Statistical Secretaries: H. E. Rogers, 1905–1941; Claude Conard, 1941–1950; E. J. Johanson, 1950–1952; H. W. Klaser, 1952–1962.
Statistical and Auditing Secretaries: E. L. Becker, 1962–1964; R. J. Radcliffe, 1964–1966.
Statistical Secretary: Jesse O. Gibson, 1966–1975.